Grandpa's Got The Blues (or Vincent ManGO) - Crockpot Pork Chops

Grandpa's Got The Blues is one of the newest sauces from my small gourmet food company.  It is a blueberry balsamic maple sauce.  

We've found that it is good on just about everything.  It's amazing used simply in cottage cheese or poured over vanilla ice cream. Great on ribs. A wonderful dipping sauce.  But what about cooking with it?

I decided to find out.  I'm certain there will be other recipes in the future with this sauce, but I've made this twice now and my wife and I both love it.  I'm hoping you will too.

NOTE:  Since this was initially posted we have tried this same recipe with other sauces.  We have found that if you follow all of the steps exactly the same but simply substitute the sauce at the end, you end up with a very different but fantastic flavor.  We frequently make this with both the blueberry (Grandpa's Got The Blues) and the curry mango (Vincent ManGO).  While we serve the blueberry version over mashed potatoes, we serve the curry mango version over jasmine rice.  The flavor is very similar to what you'd get with Indian food.  Again, follow the same recipe as below, simply substitute the sauce at the end.  We have also found that you can substitute chicken for the pork and it works just fine.

Video

With this recipe, I decided to try something a little different this time around.  My wife's been bugging me for ages to do a video instead of just pictures.  Those of you that have been married for very long know that simply ignoring those kinds of comments doesn't go over very well; so here we are, with a video.

Since this is my first try, I'm quite happy to hear any of your feedback.  The recipe is below so you can take a look at that as well.

I THINK it's fairly easy to follow, but since I came up with it and filmed it, that's to be expected.  I'm more concerned that you think it's easy to follow.  Feel free to stop, start, replay, etc., and let me know what you think.

Here's the recipe to go along with the video.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Ingredients

• 4 pork chops
• 2 tbsp Not Just For Turkey brine mix
• 2 cups water (or liquid of your preference)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced (or diced, your choice)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup flour
• 2 oz olive oil
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 bottle Grandpa's Got The Blues or Vincent ManGO

Directions

1. Brine the pork chops.  This is very simple.  Put two tbsp of brine mix in two cups of water or liquid of your choice and mix well (if you are doing more or less than four chops, change the amounts of brine mix and water but keep the same ratio).
2. Put the pork chops in the brine mixture.  Be certain that the chops are covered with the brine mixture and refrigerate.  If they are very thin you can get away with a couple of hours in the refrigerator.  I try to brine them for a minimum of four hours, preferably overnight when possible to give them the best flavor.
3. When ready, remove from the refrigerator and rinse the pork chops and pat them dry.
4. Dredge the pork chops in the flour.  If you'd like, you can season the pork chops with a bit of salt and pepper at this point though with the flavor from the brine it's not really necessary.
5. Put one ounce of oil in a skillet on medium heat.
6. Brown the pork chops on both sides.  This should take about 3-4 minutes per side. 
7. Remove the pork chops from the skillet and place in the crockpot.  We use a liner in the crockpot simply to reduce cleanup time.  It's certainly not necessary, it just makes things a bit easier.
8. Add the onions and mushrooms to the skillet.  You may or may not need the additional oil.  I find that the mushrooms tend to "suck up" the oil and I need to use the additional ounce.  If so, add it at this point.  
9. Sauté the mushrooms and onions just until they are soft and the mushrooms start to give up their liquid.
10. Add the garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds, just until they are getting fragrant.
11. Add the white wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to get off any bits that are stuck there.
12. Reduce the wine by half.
13. Add the two cups of chicken stock and stir.
14. Add one bottle of Grandpa's Got The Blues or Vincent ManGO, stir well and bring to a boil.
15. Spoon the mixture over the top of the pork chops.
16. Cover the crockpot and cook for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low.
17. Remove the lid and take out the pork chops.  They will be VERY tender and may even fall apart as you take them out.
18. The cooking liquid will be fairly thin.  You can serve it as is or thicken it a bit.  I like to thicken it to more of a gravy consistency with a mixture of cornstarch and water. 
19. Serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles (if I'm making this using Vincent ManGO, we serve over jasmine or basmati rice).
20. Enjoy!